The present invention relates to a manual adjuster for adjusting the position of a vehicle component relative to a vehicle body and in particular, to an adjuster having a solenoid actuated latch mechanism for holding the adjuster in position.
Vehicle seat assemblies are typically provided with a fore and aft adjuster that enables the seat assembly to be moved fore and aft within a motor vehicle. Such adjustment capability is necessary to enable vehicle operators of various sizes to be seated comfortably and safely within the motor vehicle. The adjuster is either manually operated, having a mechanical mechanism for latching the seat assembly in place and a mechanical release to free the adjuster to enable adjustment, or the adjuster is power operated, using one or more drive motors to move the seat assembly within the vehicle. Power adjusters, by virtue of the power operation can provide a control for operating the adjuster at a location distant from the mechanism itself and connected thereto by an electrical wire. As a result, the control can be placed at a convenient and easy to reach location. However, with a manual adjuster, it is necessary to provide a release mechanism that is in close proximity to the latch due to the mechanical coupling between the latch and its release control.
One manner of providing a manual adjustment with an easily reached control is to use a solenoid to release the latch. Such a device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,373. In that patent, a solenoid is mechanically coupled to the latch mechanism to move the latch to a release position.
The present invention seeks to provide a simplified solenoid operated latch mechanism to reduce the number of components and the complexity of the latch release mechanism.
The mechanism of the present invention achieves this objective by utilizing the movable plunger of the solenoid itself as the latch pin that seats in an aperture in a latch plate to latch the adjuster in a given position. As a result, the solenoid plunger is not used to move the latch mechanism but becomes part of the latch mechanism itself.
While adjusters are well known for vehicle seat assemblies, the adjuster of the present invention is not limited to use with a seat but can be used with any movable vehicle component. Possible applications other than seat assemblies, include a floor console that is movable fore and aft within a vehicle and a trunk storage system having a sliding tray that moves in and out of a vehicle. Other moving devices can utilize the adjuster as well.